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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

LEGEND OF A LAME LAMB

There is a lovely legend about a lame lamb who witnessed the first Christmas. She was lonely and depressed as she could not join the other lambs that played in the open fields.

She was resting near the cattle shed in the silent Christmas night when St. Joseph and St. Mary entered it and St. Mary delivered the Holy Child and laid Him in a manger. Hearing the Child’s cry, the lame lamb moved closer to the Child. Child Jesus was shivering in the cold night though wrapped in strips of cloth. The lamb remembered her early days when her mother used to keep her close to her body to give some warmth during cold nights. The lamb moved closer to Jesus and remained close to the Child’s shivering body. It was a great relief to the Child and He slept peacefully. St. Mary saw this silent service and was happy and grateful.

Next morning, when the child was warm, the lamb tried to limp away but was excited to find that she has been miraculously cured of her lameness. She came out of the shed and jumped in joy. She ran to the other lambs and declared how the Holy Child had blessed her and cured her of the inborn deformity.The lambs visited the Child and offered their salutations. This legend is beautifully depicted in many paintings.

The legend leads us to the lesson that when we remain close to Jesus, He will bless us and cure us. He values even minor acts of kindness and service and rewards them handsomely.

By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India. This is Story No. 16 in this site. Please click ‘Older Post’ at the bottom of this page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Post' at the bottom of this page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.